Questions tagged [tamei-tahor-ritual-purity]
Questions related to the Torah concepts of *tumah* and *taharah* - ritual impurity and purity.
287
questions
2
votes
1
answer
75
views
Red Heifer Sprinkling and Missing a Day
Numbers 19 discusses administering of the Red Heifer's ashes by way of sprinkling water. People who become impure from contact with the dead must be sprinkled by the water on the third and seventh ...
- 8,174
2
votes
1
answer
109
views
Were Impure Vessels Sprinkled on the 3rd and 7th Days, or just once?
Numbers 19 discusses administering of the Red Heifer's ashes by way of sprinkling water. In verse 14, we see that vessels as well as humans can be impure from the dead. In verse 18, we see that ...
- 8,174
4
votes
1
answer
127
views
How Was the Red Heifer Water Administered in Israel?
Numbers 19 discusses administering of the Red Heifer's ashes by way of sprinkling water. From verses 11 through 21, it seems that impurity contracted by the dead is dispelled by sprinklings on the ...
- 8,174
0
votes
1
answer
99
views
when does a mikve purify a person
Does a mikve purify a person when he/she is totally inside the water or when he/she emerges from the water?
please source and also provide a reason for why it is so. it would seem to me that the ...
- 20.8k
4
votes
1
answer
299
views
May a non-Jew ascend the Temple Mount today?
It is forbidden for a Jew who is impure to enter certain parts of the Temple Mount; many authorities prohibit entering it nowadays at all.
What about a non-Jew? Is someone who isn't Jewish permitted ...
- 8,233
5
votes
1
answer
226
views
Could the Temple vessels become tamei? What happens?
At one point, the Romans would give the job of Kohein Gadol to the highest bidder, who often happened to be a Tziduki (Sadducee). Come Yom Kippur, these Tzidukim would die while performing the avodah (...
- 22.9k
4
votes
1
answer
148
views
Why are the laws of niddah called "tohoras mishpacha" - "family purity"
Why are the laws of niddah called the laws of tohoras mishpacha/family purity? Certainly the "tohorah" part of the phrase makes sense, but why isn't it called "tohoras ishus", marriage purity, or ...
- 465
3
votes
2
answers
415
views
May Kohanim visit Hayden Planetarium in NYC?
May Kohanim visit Hayden Planetarium in New York City? The planetarium in question is adjacent to the Natural History Museum. Issues in question are presumably sof tumah latzeit (the idea that the ...
- 1,501
8
votes
1
answer
213
views
Why was the oil in the temple tamei at all?
Regarding the story of Chanukah and the need for tahor oil, I recall hearing in a shiur one time that there are 4 things which are not susceptible to tumah from the Torah; oil (a subset of mashkin) ...
user6641
3
votes
1
answer
542
views
Does killing a pest make a person unclean?
I know there were previous questions asking whether it is OK to kill a pest, say a fly, but the consequences are unclear. So I'm asking if killing a pest makes a person unclean.
- 133
8
votes
2
answers
143
views
discrepancy between parashat emor and yechezkel regarding if it is possible for a kohen to be mitame for a spouse
In parashat Emor (Vayikra 21:2) it is written
כִּי, אִם-לִשְׁאֵרוֹ, הַקָּרֹב, אֵלָיו: לְאִמּוֹ וּלְאָבִיו, וְלִבְנוֹ וּלְבִתּוֹ וּלְאָחִיו.כא,ג וְלַאֲחֹתוֹ הַבְּתוּלָה הַקְּרוֹבָה אֵלָיו, אֲשֶׁר ...
- 1,484
1
vote
1
answer
215
views
If a Niddah spits on you are you Impure?
In ויקרא טו it discusses Zav for a man, Niddah and Zavah. There are some methods in which ritual impurity are transmitted which are listed for a Zav, but not for the other two, such as spitting. ...
- 3,612
3
votes
1
answer
278
views
Is it permissible to play with cards?
Someone told me the other day, that playing cards (with ace, jack king and queen...) contain Tumah and therefor should not be played with.
Did anyone hear of this? If yes, do you have a source?
- 381
12
votes
2
answers
256
views
Is a wooden knife מקבל טומאה?
I know that פשוטי כלי עץ טהורים (wooden vessels that are flat [without a receptacle] cannot become טמא [ritually impure]). (כלים ב:א)
What about a wooden knife? It has a function, but doesn't have a ...
- 18.9k
10
votes
1
answer
771
views
Notched 2x4 for maamid?
Let's assume that there is a lechatchila to not use metal object that are mekabel tumah (susceptible to tumah) for something that supports the s'chach ("maamid"), which can be avoided by using ...
- 18.9k
8
votes
1
answer
807
views
Cohanim in Auschwitz
A lot of people died in Auschwitz, and since cohanim are not allowed to become tamei (ritually impure) by touching a corpse, may cohanim enter Auschwitz?
- 83
1
vote
1
answer
194
views
Can a Ba'al Qeri act as Shaliahh Tzibbur?
The question arises in the Halakhah (Qitzur Shulhhan Arukh, Yalqut Yosef, Orahh Hayim 88:1) as to whether a Ba'al Qeri (one who has recently released his seed) is permitted to read Qeri'at Shema' and ...
- 7,393
7
votes
0
answers
303
views
Beam for s'chach with wood glue + embedded screws
Let's assume that there is a lechatchila to not use metal object that are mekabel tumah (susceptible to tumah) for something that supports the s'chach ("maamid"), which can be avoided by using ...
- 18.9k
1
vote
1
answer
249
views
can zera still make clothes and objects tamei?
In our generation, can clothes and objects still become tamei through zera? If so how do you get rid of the tumah?
- 773
0
votes
0
answers
43
views
Are kohanim prohibited from University College London? [duplicate]
Maybe a strange question, but the mummified remains of the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham are on display in a glass case at UCL.
See http://golondon.about.com/od/londonforfree/p/jeremybentham.htm
...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
137
views
Eating food that is tamei
What is the status (both mid'oraita [on the biblical level] and mid'rabanan [on the rabbinic level]) of a person who ate food that is tamei [ritually impure] as a rishon le'tumah [first level of tumah ...
5
votes
1
answer
160
views
Unclean -- Consequences
I know that there are multiple things (food, corpses, menstruation, etc.) that can make one unclean. I'm just uncertain as to what being unclean meant in practicality, especially for touching the ...
0
votes
1
answer
177
views
Kohen travels next to a hearse under tree branches
related to:
Kohen following a Mes into a tunnel
If a Kohen is driving his car and a hearse is next to him and they are both in a area where there are trees in a narrow road (or say regular road with ...
- 1,184
3
votes
2
answers
159
views
If a ger is like a newborn, are they tahor? Can they prepare the para aduma?
If a ger (convert) is considered like a newborn are they tahor? If this is the case then if we were able to find a red cow then shouldn't the ger be able to to prepare the para aduma? Normally the ...
- 4,121
1
vote
0
answers
58
views
רש״י's use of the קל וחומר after it's been discredited (שבת כו ע״ב)
The Bavli, Shabas 26 amud 2, derives from some wording in Vayikra that a three-finger-by-three-finger piece of wool or linen fabric can become tame.
It then proposes that the verse teaches us only ...
- 73.6k
2
votes
2
answers
194
views
Was there a Pesach Sheni after the very first Pesach?
Bamidbar (Num.) 9:1, which begins the section related to Pesach Sheni says that the event occurred in the second year from leaving Egypt. Beginning in verse 9, we learn about the laws of Pesach Sheni.
...
- 69.6k
6
votes
0
answers
181
views
Blessing on Immersing Vessels to Purify Them
A Mikvah can be used to purify humans or certain vessels which have contracted ritual impurity (Rambam Mikvaot 1 (English)).
When humans use the Mikvah to purify themselves they recite a blessing (...
- 96.3k
2
votes
1
answer
164
views
How does Tum'ah ("Ritual Impurity") work?
What are the mechanics by which Tum'ah works?
How does one detect it, or diagnose someone as Tamei?
Certain materials can contract and transfer Tum'ah. Why do these material do so, but others don't?
...
- 10.4k
4
votes
1
answer
143
views
How does a Yoledet remove her impurity for korbanot?
Does the tuma of a Yoledet expire?
What I mean is that she goes to the mikve on the 8th or 15th night and is permitted to her husband ( even if she's still bleeding ), but is still impure for ...
- 3,612
2
votes
1
answer
538
views
which animals have tuma neveila
tuma sheretz applies only to the shmonei sheratzim (8 critters) mentioned in the torah.
But what about tuma neveila (which is more severe)? Is it for all other animals or some? what about small ...
- 20.8k
2
votes
2
answers
164
views
Do We Repeat the Prayers for Using the Restroom and Washing the Hands After Each Time?
I cannot quite figure out whether we are obliged to repeat the blessing over use of the restroom and the washing of hands each time. At present I do in the morning, when I first wake up, per what my ...
- 889
4
votes
8
answers
233
views
Connection between purity and bris?
The verse in Vayikra 12:2 says
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר וְטָמְאָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כִּימֵי נִדַּת דְּוֹתָהּ תִּטְמָא
If a woman conceives and gives ...
- 57.9k
5
votes
2
answers
799
views
The meaning of the word חטא
The word chet is "sin" and is used as such (and in related ways -- sin offering, guilt from sinning, cause others to sin etc.) over 200 times according to my Even-Shoshan. It seems to be connected to ...
- 37.4k
2
votes
3
answers
322
views
How was Shmuel permitted to kill Agag?
How was Shmuel Hanavi, who was a nazir (Nazir 66a, Rambam Nezirus 3:16) allowed to kill Agag if in doing so he became tamei l'mais? I am looking for answers other than Shmuel using a wooden sword or ...
2
votes
0
answers
190
views
Question on the transfer of Ruach Ra'ah [closed]
I've heard ( do not have a source ) that if you don't wash right after waking up, the Ruach Ra'ah transfers itself to all objects you touch. Does this object become tumei? How is it removed from the ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
63
views
Explanation of obscure Rashi (שבת דף יד)
The Bavli, Shabas 13 amud 2, quotes a mishna in Zavin that lists some people and things that, by touching t'ruma, invalidate it so that it cannot be eaten. The Bavli says that these restrictions were ...
- 73.6k
3
votes
1
answer
94
views
Why cover coals in the Temple, and what if the cover was needed?
The mishna, Tamid 5:5, indicates that there was a large container used for several things in the Temple. Two of those were that it covered hot coals that spilled on the floor every Sabbath morning, ...
- 73.6k
4
votes
1
answer
298
views
Washing hands after touching a gentile corpse
Does one need to wash hands after touching a gentile corpse just as after a Jewish one?
- 6,596
2
votes
2
answers
107
views
Meis Mitzva and Idolatry
A Cohen finds a dead body in India
Should he bury it himself and become taamei
OR
Should he inform the nearby village who will then dispose of the body with idolatrous rituals.
The roots of the ...
- 7,363
1
vote
1
answer
611
views
Tumah from touching scalp?
Whats the reason behind the ruling that scratching or touching your scalp gives hands tumah, therefor you need to wash before discussing Torah or reciting a bracha
- 71
7
votes
2
answers
180
views
Does Tuma get nullified?
If a drop of Tuma liquid (say a "Mashke" of a zav) falls into a huge vat of water, do we say that all the water is now an Av, or do we say it could get nullified.
If it gets nullified, at what ratio?
...
- 40.1k
4
votes
1
answer
182
views
How could the Temple have become tamei?
At Yoma 41a, there is a discussion regarding the appropriate offering for someone who causes the Temple to become Tamei (ritually impure)? But what are we talking about becoming tamei? The utinsels ...
- 15.8k
6
votes
2
answers
181
views
Trains traversing cemeteries - Kohanim
May a Kohen (that is, a member of the priestly clan, who are prohibited by the Torah from exposing themselves to dead bodies) ride on a train that passes over, through, or under a cemetery? May he ...
- 41.3k
7
votes
3
answers
4k
views
May a Kohen become a doctor?
May a Kohen, who is not allowed to be around dead bodies and the like, become a doctor?
Please mention only sourced answers, and I realize that there are some programs that don't require work with ...
- 1,571
3
votes
1
answer
209
views
Why make the Kohen burning the Para Aduma rabbinically impure?
The Gemara says that we make the Kohen burning the Para Aduma (the red heifer) impure and then dip him in the Mikva.
The reason given is that there is an argument between the Rabbis and the Sadducees ...
- 40.1k
4
votes
0
answers
119
views
What are the Tumah implications outside of Temple?
What are the implication of tumah other than related to the Temple?
E.g., a pathologist in, say, Australia is contaminated with Tumas Mes all the time. Does he have to travel to Jerusalem to get ...
- 1,287
2
votes
1
answer
108
views
Tovelling food on Shabbos
I've heard this before many times that food that was left under ones bed that now has on it "ruach rah" can be "purified" by tovelling the food in the mikveh (perhaps someone can help with a source ...
- 15.8k
3
votes
1
answer
379
views
What is the Tuma status of food which touched a corpse?
In general (DeOraisa), when Tumah spreads it lowers itself by a level. Moreover, a Keli can't make a Keli Tamei, nor can a food item make another food item Tamei (at least by Chullin). So a "classical"...
- 40.1k
4
votes
1
answer
935
views
If a woman converting to Judaism goes to Mikvah during her period but doesn't see any more blood, is she Tehorah?
As a corollary to this question, if a woman goes to Mikvah for her conversion "during her period" (let's say on the 2nd or 3rd day), but for some reason (for which she should probably consult her OB/...
- 41.3k
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Can a woman converting to Judaism go to the Mikvah during her period?
When Gentiles convert to Judaism, they are "like a newborn".
If I understand correctly, there is no such thing as Niddah vis a vis non-Jews.
So, if I add those two together, I am inclined to assume ...
- 41.3k